Furniture blemishes, ironing tips

Our resident cleaning and laundry pro, Carolyn Forte, shares her best tips and favorite tricks to conquer your toughest messes. I hosted a party, and now there’s a white ring on my table. Is there anything I can do?

White rings appear when condensation from wet glasses or hot dishes gets trapped in the wood’s finish. (That’s why trivets and coasters are so great.) To remove the ring, place a thick towel on top and press with a warm, dry iron for five to 10 seconds. (Tip: To avoid further damaging the wood, make sure the steam is off, and don’t touch the wood directly with the iron.) The gentle heat will “open up” the wood’s finish ever so slightly, and the towel will absorb the moisture. Repeat until the ring disappears, then polish and buff the area. Ring? What ring?

GH Lab pick: Guardsman Anytime Clean & Polish aerosol ($5.50, guardsman.com) cleaned up in our tests! What’s the easiest way to spruce up wood furniture?

Minor blemishes can make even new pieces look old. The best thing I’ve found to camouflage scrapes is a wood touchup marker, like those in GH Seal holder Weiman Furniture Repair Kit. Select one of four shades (from blond to black), or start with the lightest and go darker until you reach a match. Just dab the markers on nicks and scratches, or try wax sticks (also included in the Weiman kit) to fill deeper holes and gouges. Wipe off excess, then polish and buff to blend.

GH Lab pick: Weiman Furniture Repair Kit ($9, weiman. com). I’m not the best ironer. Is there a more effective way to remove wrinkles and freshen fine fabrics?

Even experts sometimes ditch their irons in favor of garment steamers, especially for delicates or other hard-to-iron fabrics (see below). Steamers are convenient and fantastic at smoothing items right on the hanger.

GH Lab pick: New GH Seal holder Conair Turbo ExtremeSteam ($60, target.com) heats up in only 40 seconds and provides a constant flow of steam, no pumping needed. In our lab tests, it erased both deep and shallow creases from cotton, linen, polyester and silk. It’s comfortable to hold, and we loved that it didn’t spit or drip - the fabric was spot-free. It comes with a built-in creaser to set pleats, and its Turbo setting pumps out more powerful steam to erase even the most stubborn wrinkles.